star J.P. Morgan credit trader, left before bonus season to join the newly formed hedge fund AlphaDyne Asset Management, cofounded by Philipe
Khuong-Huu, who was previously head of Goldman Sach's interest-rate products group. This pair of aces, as well as AlphaDyne cofounderBart Broadman, another J.P. Morgan alum, were set to launch their fund this February.
.: Hedge Fund Manager Biography :: Youngest Hedge Fund Manager :: Famous Currency Traders :: Hedge Fund Manager Biography :.
The Top Up-and-Comers
#1
Chris Leonard
#2
David Siegel
David Siegel and his partners at Two Sigma reportedly had a terrific year. With $2 billion in assets and solid returns, the former IT chief at Tudor Investment Corp. and his partner, John Overdeck, are know for sharing the wealth with their 100 or so employees -- otherwise they might have joined our list. But both of them probably made at least $10 million in 2005 -- and they're just getting started.
#1
David Tepper
Chatham, New Jersey
Appaloosa Management
4 BILLION
53
The Pittsburgh-raised, Goldman-groomed high-yield bond trader has once again shown he's in it to win it, giving back money every chance he gets. In order to start 2005 at a lean, mean $2 billion, a good portion of which is his own dough, David Tepper spent the latter months of 2004 (while everyone else within spitting distance of a Bloomberg was trying to raise money) giving back $700 million. The move paid off, as David Tepper's flagship fund notched a 20 percent return last year. David Tepper likes to find companies most everyone else has left for dead; he had a big stake in bankrupt auto-parts maker Delphi. Steel stocks helped him forge a solid year. Read More about David Tepper
#2
Boaz Weinstein
New York
Deutsche Bank
$30-$40 MILLION
39
Crowned global head of credit trading for North America and Europe late last year and believed to be the highest-paid trader at Deutsche, boyish Boaz is certainly on a roll. When early estimates of his outrageous bonus haul were first mentioned by CNBC earlier this year, the entire trading floor reportedly gave Weinstein a standing ovation -- even as a lot of other people around the Street scoffed that there was no way he made that much. Among those naysayers were senior sources at the bank, who swore to us that Weinstein didn't reach such lofty pay levels. But if he was awarded anywhere close to the comp of some other top Deutsche traders we know, it's still our contention that the standing O was warranted.
#2
John Devaney
Key Biscayne, Florida
United Capital Markets
$40-$50 MILLION
42
Growing up in South Florida, our cover subject was an avid boater. He has since graduated to power yachts and helicopters. Intense but even-keeled, he had another great year deploying his firm's capital to make markets in distressed asset-backed securities. Whether it's securitized aircraft leases or sub-prime home equity, Devaney (who is UCM's CEO and head trader) and his team (Evan Kestenberg, Randy White and Sean Kirk) have at their disposal the in-house research, pricing models and personal experience to decide more quickly and with more conviction when a seemingly high-risk, gone-sour ABS has become a decent value -- even if Devaney has to hold the sucker until maturity. The firm is known to get creative. In one of its biggest deals last year, UCM accumulated about $150 million (face value) worth of distressed aircraft bonds. They then broke them apart, redeployed cash flows and purchased an insurance policy to guarantee the repayment of the first $100 million. This allowed UCM to reissue that $100 million as exotic triple-A-class paper. At the same time, UCM issued three other lower-rated subordinated classes with different risk profiles, capturing a tasty arbitrage in the process. "A lot of people see John as this big risk taker, but the truth is he's very calculated," says one colleague. Married with three children, Devaney loves free diving. Eschewing regulators and oxygen tanks, free divers merely hold their breath while using special weights to shoot themselves down into the ocean depths. If he keeps up his trading success, by contrast.
The Top Wall Street Traders
#1
Eric Felder
Eric Felder of Lehman Brothers is only 32 years old, but already he's a flow/credit trading stalwart. We hear he took home at least $5 million last year. Meanwhile, Paul Bachman, a commodities star at Goldman Sachs, didn't make quite enough to qualify for the top 100, but we think this $2.5 million man is well on his way.
#1
Mark McGoldrick
New York
Goldman Sachs
$40-$50 MILLION
55
How do you reward one of the top prop traders at the Street's top trading firm following one of the single most lucrative years in the history of the securities industry? You pay, handsomely. Media reports that Goldman MD McGoldrick, co-head of global proprietary investments, was in line to possibly make $40 million surfaced as early as late November, and since then we've heard the splendid spoils were that and more. After all, McGoldrick's unit made more than $2 billion in profits for the firm during fiscal year 2005. We now understand that officials at Goldman, a publicly owned company, so fear and loathe this list (sorry, Hank) that they've instructed all their PR people not to talk to us about anything, period. We're going to miss all those halfhearted tirades about how our numbers are way off. This one isn't.
The Best of the Rest
#1
J.P. McManus
Geneva, Switzerland
Cubic Expressions
$75-$100 MILLION
61
Once known as the Sundance Kid, McManus is a high-rolling forex trader who made headlines and also angered a lot of soccer fans when he cashed out of Machester United to "ugly American" Malcolm Glazer. The Irish-born gambling icon once made his living as a bookmaker; now he's content to satisfy his sporting jones as a racehorse owner and golf fanatic.
Slipping In Style
#1
Ravinder Mehra
Ravinder Mehra, the bull running Spain's Vega Asset Management, fell off, as his firm got gored by fickle markets last year. Despite the setbacks (OK, they had a blowup), Vega should continue to attract new money. Mehra, who took home an estimated $30 - $40 million in 2004, can still take pride in a stellar long-term track record -- and dazzling new digs in Madrid.
The Figureheads
#1
The Figureheads
Some of the investment icons on this list don't trade that much anymore, but they're still involved. Othe rfamous names you might notice as absetn literally don't trade at all. Think of them figureheads, gys who are still strongly associated with the investing process. So you son't see George Soros, but you will see his son Robert. Likewise, Ken Griffin, of Citadel Investment Group hasn't traded in years, acording to his handlers. Additionally, reliable sources say that neigher Donald Sussman, founding of heavyweight hedge-fund firm Paloma Partners Management Co, nor Dan Och of Och-Ziff Capital Management has even a cursory hand in trading. For the record, however, our reporting shows they all pulled in money in 2005.